BMB Reviews … Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes

BMB Reviews … Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes

I must begin this review with full disclosure that I do not watch the night of television owned by Shonda Rhimes: TGIT on ABC. Of the shows she has created and/or produced, I’ve only watched one – Private Practice – and that was mostly because I’m a huge Audra McDonald fan and less about any particular t.v. writing genius possessed by Ms. Rhimes. I read this book as a person who knows of Shonda Rhimes, but isn’t in her legion of fans. She begins the story explaining that she lies and lays tracks – creates fiction and it is up to us, the reader, to discern how much of the Year of Yes is true and how much is her process of laying tracks of a good story. It was a good introduction and disclaimer as I did find myself questioning her authenticity in certain moments of the book – especially her insistence on being an unassuming, introvert oblivious to certain truths in her life in the same breath as touting her ability to capture the same truths of human condition in her characters. Do I really believe Ms. Rhimes lived many years not being able to see the forest from the trees? That in justone year she had an innumerable amount of epiphanies about her life that she was completely unaware of previously? Not sure about that. Overall, she lays good track in this book and gives us a peek behind the curtains of how a successful person “manages” it all. She expertly challenges traditional norms and confidently owns her differences without ridiculing those who hold those traditional values dear. More importantly, throughout her story, it is clear how big her support system is and how she wouldn’t be Shonda without them.